Hi, I'm sorry for the late reply! Thanks for the tag, I just saw this in the email I use for Medium which I hardly check. Funny to notice this today as I'm signing off this platform.

In answer to your questions - 1) I do not let my parents read my blog because I have a tendency to blog about aspects of my life I don't particularly want them to read about (for instance, BDSM). That's part of why I use a pen name. I read them my writing sometimes, usually my mom, but my dad's read all of my books.

2) Yes! My mom especially, as she's also a writer. I gave up on writing seriously after I started college, and reading a draft of her novel made me think "Oh right, I used to love this, I should get back to it" and inspired me to write my first novel.

3) Absolutely. But I've got particularly wonderful parents across the board.

If parents ever get you down, just remember: the climate, economy and political system are collapsing all around us. "A real job" matters far less now than "basic skills in case of severe supply chain disruptions and regular natural disasters." Boomers gonna boom, what can ya do, but the rest of us can remember that cobbling together a living out of whatever ~sparks joy~ is the best we can do. Success ain't what it used to be and money isn't really important.